[C38] Engine starting problems
Dan Miller
dmills3 at comcast.net
Sat Jul 23 20:17:27 EDT 2022
I have a 1981 also with the original engine and experienced starting problems coming in from a Wednesday evening race. It wouldn't start so we were able to sail into the slip.
Earlier that evening the engine was hard to start. It would start but only run a few seconds. After several tries (about 6) it kept running.
I have the kind of ampmeter or voltmeter (not sure which but I guess a voltmeter since it shows all the time) gauge that shows the battery status all the time. When I switch on the Glow plugs the meter shows a voltage drop so I know it is working. On this night it didn't show a voltage drop. We sprayed ether in but it wouldn't keep running.
The next day a friend came down to help me and this is what we did. I checked the tank and we had fuel. I suspected air in the fuel lines and that is what it was. We bled the fuel filter and bled the fitting on the fuel injector pump.
We put in a new momentary switch for the glow plugs. We held the switch on for 20 seconds but it didn't start so I used a little ether and it started and kept running. I ran it for about 20 minutes and shut it off. About 10 minutes later we tried and it started right up.
I am pretty sure you have a fuel problem and need to bleed your system. It's not all that hard to do.
> On 07/23/2022 7:17 PM Vassili Valayannopoulos <vassilival.boston at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Hello,
>
> I have trouble starting my engine on my Catalina 38, 1981. The engine is the original M25 Universal that I just had thoroughly serviced as it was underperforming and overheating (it had a stuck valve). The engine was running fine after the service and I made a long 2 day passage with no issues. 3 weeks later I was unable to start the engine.
>
> The engine cranks but won't start. As usual I warmed up the glow-plugs, had the batteries recharged and even added a brand new starting battery.
>
> I suspect either water in the muffler or air in the fuel lines. I am trying to figure out how to access the muffler and how to drain it if it's flooded.
>
> Any other suggestions or ideas?
>
> Many thanks!
>
> Vassili
> Sailing on Naftaki,
> Boston, MA
>
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